Russian, Ukrainian deputy foreign ministers to continue contacts within days

GENEVA, March 26, /ITAR-TASS/. Russian and Ukrainian deputy foreign ministers will continue contacts within the next several days, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said on Wednesday, March 26.

“Contacts have been planned for the next few days, including at the level of deputy foreign ministers [of the two countries] to discuss the current complex situation,” he said.

“Contacts with the leadership of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry will continue. We will try to come to agreement with our Ukrainian partners,” Karasin said and expressed confidence that “diplomatic measures have not been used up yet”.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrei Deshchitsa met on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague on March 24.

Deshchitsa said at a news conference earlier in the day he the hoped to meet with Lavrov “to start a dialogue and discuss how we can settle the conflict between Ukraine and Russia peacefully,” he said.

Ukraine “is ready for talks with Russia as a member of any possible contact group to settle the crisis,” Deshchitsa said.

The acting minister stressed that he would “demand that Russia stop the escalation of the situation and withdraw all of its troops from Crimea”.

“Russia and Ukraine will be able to coexist in the future, but Kiev is not going to give up Crimea. We will continue active efforts in cooperation with our international partners in order to restore control over Crimea,” he said.